Tide Tidbits – December 21, 2009

Bama ties up loose ends: After awards, recruiting, focus is back on title
The quarterback, by his own admission, has floated more wounded ducks than he would like to see at this advanced stage of the season. The running back’s mother has this big, honking statue in the middle of her kitchen table that’s too heavy to lift. A half-dozen players are still clearing their phones of congratulatory text messages concerning this or that award, but the messages keep on coming. As for the head coach, he’s mending fences after forgetting his wedding anniversary. Otherwise, the Alabama Crimson Tide is doing just swimmingly, thank you, as it resumes preparations for its Jan. 8 meeting with Texas for the BCS national championship. Alabama practiced inside Saturday in a cloudy, chilly afternoon and outside Sunday on a sunny, chilly afternoon.Alabama will continue working out through Wednesday before breaking for Christmas and returning next weekend for another week of workouts leading up to the team’s flight to Los Angeles. [More]

Mr. Popularity
If Mark Ingram needed proof of just how much his life changed in an instant, his cell phone did the trick. Alabama’s sophomore running back was already a popular guy before winning the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 12, but it hit another level that evening when he glanced at his phone. “I looked at it when I walked off the stage and I was going over there to talk to (ESPN’s Chris) Fowler, and I had 237 text messages,” he said Saturday. “That was from the time my name was announced to the time I walked off the stage. And it just kept coming all night. And they’re still coming.” Former Heisman winner Tim Tebow said Ingram’s life would resemble a petting zoo after being crowned college football’s most outstanding player, and the circus didn’t take long to add all three rings. [More]

Ingram: Jinxes are not a concern
Tailback Mark Ingram walks down a hallway at Alabama’s football complex, passing the school’s first Heisman Trophy on display and a framed, oversized Sports Illustrated cover with his picture. It’s a fair question at this juncture: Do jinxes concern him? “Not at all,” Ingram says confidently. Ingram delighted the Alabama nation by winning the school’s first Heisman Trophy barely a week ago in New York. But heading into the Jan. 7 BCS national championship against Texas, Ingram’s accomplishment tempts a cruel trend regarding Heisman winners and the biggest game of the college football season. The “Heisman jinx” has claimed many a player in recent years. In this decade, teams with players who won the Heisman are 2-7 in bowls. That includes a 1-6 mark in BCS title showdowns. [More]

Fans crowd out UA players for flights to Calif.
Alabama fans are enthusiastic about the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s participation in the BCS national championship gme in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 7. In fact, enough Tide fans booked airplane flights to the West Coast to prevent the players from finding their way to California on New Year’s Day. As a result, Alabama players will fly together on a chartered jet to John Wayne Airport on Jan. 1. That decision, while it will allow the team to remain together, prevents the players from collecting travel money that the NCAA permits for bowl trips. “We have an appeal in to try and return some of that,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban. [More]

Jackson checking into NFL draft status
University of Alabama junior cornerback Kareem Jackson has filed an application with the National Football League Draft Advisory Board, which provides college underclassmen with information on their draft status to help them decide whether or not to forgo their college eligibility early. “I sent it in a couple of days ago. I guess I’ll just wait until it comes back and see what it says. I’m not really putting a whole lot of emphasis on it right now. I’m just focused on getting ready for this game, and that’s about it,” Jackson said. Jackson, a Macon, Ga., native, has been projected as a second-round pick by various draft services. UA coach Nick Saban has said in the past that he generally only advises underclassmen to declare early if they are projected as a first-round pick. “I’ve had a couple of conversations about it with coach Saban, but other than that I haven’t gotten any other feedback from anyone,” Jackson said. “That’s not really where my mind is right now. It will come. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, so be it. “Once I get the feedback, I’ll just go from there.” [More]

Which college fans are most passionate?
The most passionate fans, a euphemism for “nuts,” cheer for Alabama. I know this for having underrated the Crimson Tide all year. And for having the audacity to pick Texas to win the BCS title game even though Alabama is 0-7-1 all-time against the Longhorns. I’ve spent 80 billable hours this season answering e-mails to Alabama. – Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times [More]

Roll Tide!

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